Magnetic pyrochlore oxides

Within the past 20 years or so, there has occurred an explosion of interest in the magnetic behavior of pyrochlore oxides of the type A2 3⁺ B2 4⁺ O7, where A is a rare-earth ion and B is usually a transition metal. Both the A and B sites form a network of corner-sharing tetrahedra which is the quintessential framework for a geometrically frustrated magnet. In these systems the natural tendency to form long-range ordered ground states in accord with the third law of thermodynamics is frustrated, resulting in some novel short-range ordered alternatives, such as spin glasses, spin ices, and spin liquids, and much new physics. This article attempts to review the myriad of properties found in pyrochlore oxides, mainly from a materials perspective, but with an appropriate theoretical context.